Knitted sweaters and methods of making the same



W. D. IDE

Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. WHITMAN D. IDE BY Oct. 29, 1968 Z I JJI e o M l FIG.

z. I r Q Oct. 29, 1968 w. D. IDE 3,407,632

KNITTED SWEATERS AND METHODS OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Nov. 15, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. WHLTMAN 0. IDE

ATTORNEY Oct. 29, 1968 w 13, 35 3,407,632

KNITTED SWEATERS AND METHODS OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Nov. 15, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 l INVENTOR. WHITMAN D. IDE

ATTO

F l G. 9. BY Z 7 Runs 7 United States Patent 3,407,632 KNITTED SWEATERS AND METHODS OF MAKING THE SAME Whitman D. Ide, Laconia, N.H., assignor to Scott & Williams Incorporated, Laconia, N.H., a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 15, 1966, Ser; No. 594,510 Claims. (Cl. 66-176) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A sweater is provided in which the body, as well as sleeves if used, has a two-ply construction with a plain knit inner ply covering floats resulting from patterning in the outer ply. The method of production involves tubular knitting of a fabric in which the inner and outer plies are integral with each other followed by folding, seaming and cutting operations.

Popular sweaters are knit from fabrics which exhibit bold patterns produced by selective knitting and floating, and sometimes tucking, of different colored yarns, the patterning involving formation of long floats on the inside (back) of the fabric as it is produced. In the finished product these floats cannot be retained because they are of sufiicient length to be caught, pulled and often broken when the sweater is used by contact with the body of the wearer or underlying garments. Typically the floats may have lengths of one or two inches or more. Consequently, in the manufacturing procedure the floats are cut and the ends are trimmed to minimize the possibility that they may be caught or pulled. However, the cutting and trimming must be carefully accomplished, with the remaining yarn ends sufiiciently long to avoid their reeving back through the fabric, which reeving would produce a hole or run. The cutting of the floats involves a considerable change of the fabric characteristics in that the removal of restraint on the yarns causes the fabric to become sleazy and unacceptable as compared with the fabric as knit, and the knitting must be carried out in such fashion as to take the change of fabric geometry into account. As a practical matter, the process of cutting and trimming is time consuming and expensive.

In accordance with the present invention, the manufacture of a sweater involves the provision of a ply knit integrally with the face fabric and turned so as to lie inside the finished sweater to cover the floats to isolate them from exposure to the wearer.

The objects of the invention relate generally to the production of sweaters in practical fashions to achieve the results just indicated, and the general object as well as others relating to details of procedure and construction will become apparent from the following description read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical section through a circular knitting machine showing a typical arrangement of needles and associated elements for production of the type of fabric involved;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary development of cams for control of the needles and associated jacks;

FIGURE 3 is an elevation of a tubular fabric produced in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 4 is an elevation of the inside of a blank provided from the fabric of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a diagrammatic section of the product of the next step in the formation of a sweater blank;

FIGURE 6 is an elevation illustrating the product resulting from cutting the product shown in FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view illustrating the association of a pair of blanks prior to stitching;

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FIGURE 8 is an elevation of a finished sweater produced by the use of the steps illustrated in FIGURES 3 to 7;

FIGURE 9 is an elevation of an alternative tubular fabric which may be used in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 10 is an elevation of a blank produced from the fabric of FIGURE 9;

FIGURE 11 is a diagrammatic section of the product of the next step in the formation of a sweater; and

FIGURE 12 is a perspective view illustrating a pair of blanks cut and stitched prior to completion of the modified form of a sweater.

FIGURES 1 and 2 illustrate a machine which, in itself, is old and of a type heretofore used for the production of patterned fabrics of the type here involved, these figurcs being presented to illustrate the knitting operations which produce the fabric having the patterned construction leading to the problems involved and solved in accordance with the invention.

Typically, while other types of machines may be used, the practical machine is of a circular type having multiple feeds at each of which there are provided a number of variously colored yarns which may be: selectively introduced into action to produce multicolored patterns, elastic yarns being also fed at at least some of these feeds to produce what are known as mock rib effects for waist bands, cuffs, or the like. A typical machine of the type used may have three or more feeds depending on the cylinder diameter.

Referring to FIGURE 1, the stationary needle cylinder 2 has slots 4 in which are slidably mounted independent latch needles 6 with which are individually associated spring jacks 8 associated at their lower outwardly sprung ends with pressers 10 provided with selectively removable butts 12. The needles are provided with the usual butts 14 which may be of different lengths to provide selective operations. Projections 16 on the jacks are arranged to engage the lower ends of the needles to raise them. The lower ends of the jacks are provided with butts 18 arranged to be acted upon by cams.

Sinkers 20 operated on by conventional cams are associated with the needles 6.

To illustrate further the machine operation, FIGURE 2 shows typical calms associated with each feed of the machine. A cam 22 is provided to act on the lower butts 18 of the jacks. A welt cam 24 precedes a radially movable tuck cam 26. Cam 28 is a clearing cam which is followed by a guard cam 30, in turn followed by a stitch cam 32 having a face 34 arranged to [move needles downwardly to take yarn, the selectively operating yarn feeding fingers (not shown) being located at each feed above the cams illustrated in FIGURE 2.

Needle selection is effected by a conventional pattern control mechanism which need not :be illustrated but which typically comprises a trick wheel. at each feed carrying tricks having selectively movable butts adapted to act on selector fingers which, in turn, are arranged to engage butts 12 selectively provided on the pressers 10. Conventional chain and other controls are provided.

In brief, considering a single needle, if its associated jack does not have its lower end moved inwardly, because none of its associated presser butts is engaged by a selector finger, cam 22 will raise its jack sufiiciently. to cause the needle to engage cam 28 whereby it will be raised to cleared position, be depressed by guard cam 30, and then be depressed by stitch cam 32 to take a fed yarn and thus draw a new stitch. FIGURE 1 illustrates the parts as they would be during this operation at the needle clearing position.

On the other hand, if a selector finger engages a butt of the presser 10 at its level the lower end of the corresponding jack 8 will be forced inwardly so that it will not engage the cam 22, and the unraised needle, moving below the clearing cam 28 will engage the cam 24 to be slightly raised thereby. If the cam 26 is withdrawn at this time, the needle butt will miss this cam, moving at welt level and failing to take yarn at the feed, the lower end of the stitch cam 32 then moving the needle slightly downwardly, and with it the jack 8 to provide leveling for the approach to the next feed.

However, if cam 26 is in its inner position, it will raise the needle to tuck level, at which it is not cleared, and the needle will take a yarn at the feed, to draw a tuck stitch as the needle passes down the stitch cam 32. In some machines the needle butts 14 are of different lengths, and the tuck cam 26 may have an intermediate position in which it may engage long butts of needles but not short butts, so that selected needles may tuck While others produce floats.

Conventional yarn charge controls have not been illustrated, but it will be understood that for production of more elaborate patterns various different colored yarns may be substituted for each other, For plain areas, a single yarn at each feed may be fed through extended numbers of courses.

(For convenience of description, relative movements have been described as if the needles moved toward the right through stationary cams. Of course, in a stationary cylinder machine, the cams would move toward the left as viewed in FIGURE 2 to produce the needle operations.)

As already stated these operations are conventional, and have been described merely to indicate the general patterning which is effected and which typically involves, in the production of bold figures, the long floats which are objectionable if they were uncut and presented to the body of the wearer of a final sweater.

At this point there may be indicated the production of mock rib structure, which typically may involve operations at groups of three successive feeds as follows:

At the first of a group, odd needles may be cleared, while even needles are raised only to the tuck level. At the second feed the even needles are cleared While the odd needles are raised only to tuck level. At the third feed the odd needles are again cleared, while the even needles pass at low welt level to produce floats. The held loops of the tuck stitches are thrown to the face of the fabric in alternate Wales and to the back of the fabric in intervening wales by reason of the tautness of floated elastic yarn (which is also fed) on the back face. Knitted stitches of the elastic yarn are degenerated by tension to the extent that elastic yarn loops are not visible unless the fabric is stretched. The resulting rib effect is well known, and is used in waist band areas and in the formation of cuffs if the sweater produced has sleeves. The floats which are produced in the mock rib fabric are short and do not raise the problems of the long floats in the patterned regions.

For the practice of the invention, considering first the body of a sweater, there is first knit on the type of machine discussed above a tubular fabric 40 (FIGURE 3) having a circumference approximately one half that of the sweater to be produced, taking into account matters of seaming and shrinkage. Desirably the knitting takes place in string work fashion with repeated fabric units temporarily connected by drawthreads, by the removal of which the sections may be separated. As illustrated, a unit section comprises a mock rib waist band portion 42 followed by a patterned portion 44, in turn followed by a plain knit portion 46. Drawthreads may be included at the points indicated at 48. String work of this type is usually drawn from the machine by take-up rolls and wound up for the further processing.

Following drawthread removal, and slitting of the tube along a Wale, there is secured the initial blank indicated at 50 in flattened condition and as viewed from the inside to show the patterned portion 44 with the floats indicated at 52 by the horizontal lines. As previously mentioned, when bold patterns are produced these floats may quite generally be upwards of an inch in length and unsuitable for exposure to the wearer.

The next step involved is the folding of the upper plain knit portion of the blank about a line 56 over the floats of the pattern to bring the upper edge 54 adjacent to the upper edge of the waist band to which it is stitched along the line indicated at 60. This provides a two-ply structure having an inner ply 58 and an outer ply 59 having the face of the design directed outwardly, the inner ply 58 covering the floats 52.

Following this, the blank 68 indicated in FIGURE 6 is produced by cutting the fabric to provide half of a neck opening at 62 and half arm openings at 64 and 66.

Next, referring to FIGURE 7, two of the blanks 68 are placed face-to-face and stitched along their vertical edges at 70 and also along the fold portions at each side of the neck opening to form the body of the sweater. If the sweater is to be of the shell or sleeveless type, it may be finished by the additional stitching of a neck band and by suitable finishing of the armholes. The finished product may be then turned inside out to bring the design areas to the face of the sweater, the reversal hiding the seams. However, if the sweater is to be of the type having sleeves, the finished product will be as indicated in FIG- URE 8 at 72, in which there is shown the neck band 74 attached to the body and also the sleeves 76 stitched to the edges of the arm openings.

As indicated in FIGURE 8, the sleeves have the same design as the body of the sweater, this being a generally acceptable styling. The sleeves are formed using the identical steps described for the formation of the body, there being first knit as string work sectional tubular fabric having mock rib cufls, patterned portions and plain portions, the tubular fabric in this case being knit on a similar machine but of less diameter. Following slitting, to produce a sleeve blank similar to that shown in FIGURE 4, folding is effected to provide a double ply blank as indicated in FIGURE 5 with closure of the plies at the location of the inner edge of the cutf. Longitudinal seaming then forms the sleeve tube which can then be seamed at the armholes to the body of the sweater, the initial assembly being with the body and sleeves inside out so that reversal will produce a finished product.

As will be evident from the foregoing, the double ply construction provides coverage for the floats of the design in the body of the sweater and also in the sleeves if the latter are used. The result is a product in which no deterioration of the characteristics of the fabric occurs, such as results if the floats are cut and trimmed even though ends are left to prevent excessive reeving which would open holes or cause runs. The floats which remain intact in accordance with the invention maintain a restraint on the knitted loops to keep them compact and uniform, enhancing the appearance of the fabric and preventing its deterioration during wear and washing. Further, of course, there is avoided the difficult and expensive job of severing and trimming the floats.

FIGURES 9 to 12, inclusive, illustrate a modified procedure having the same advantageous characteristics as that already described. In this case string work is produced as indicated at 80 in FIGURE 9 in which a repeat involves a portion beginning at line 82 and including a plain knit portion 84, a first mock rib waist band portion 86, desirably a short plain knit portion 88 which may consist of only a few courses, another mock rib waist band 86 and then a patterned portion 90 containing a pattern 92 similar to that previously described. The tube thus produced is cut along the lines 82 and slit along a wale to provide an initial blank as indicated in FIGURE 10. This is symmetrical about the portion 88 which now provides the fold line to form a two-ply blank 96 as indicated in FIGURE 11. The pattern floats 94 are on the inside of the outer ply, and the two plies are connected by stitching at 98. After the cutting of half neck openings and half arm openings as previously described, paired blanks are associated face-to-face as indicated in FIGURE 12 and seamed along the longitudinal edges 100 and along the edges hancing the neck as previously described. Finishing is then accomplished in the same fashion as described for the first modification, sleeves, if desired, being produced by following the steps similar to those of FIG- URES 9, 10 and 11.

It will be evident that the sweater produced in accordance with the last modification will have characteristics similar to that first described with the exception that a double waist band is produced, and double cuffs are produced if sleeves are provided.

It will be evident that the procedures described may be modified in various fashions without departing from the invention as defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A sweater having a body of knitted fabric presenting on its face a design formed of knitted loops of a plurality of yarns, the design involving the presence of elongated floats across the back of the fabric, in which the improvement involves the provision of a knitted inner ply integral with the first mentioned fabric and folded relatively thereto and secured to cover said floats to prevent their contact with a wearer, the floats being uncut throughout major portions of the design.

2. A sweater according to claim 1 in which the fold is located in the neck region of the sweater.

3. A sweater according to claim 1 in which the fold is located between inner and outer waist band portions of the sweater.

4. The method of making a sweater comprising knitting integrally with each other first and second portions of fabric, at least the first of said portions being knitted to present in its face a design formed of knitted loops of a plurality of yarns, the design involving the presence of elongated floats across the back of the fabric, forming a blank of said fabric including both of said portions, folding the second portion of the blank over the back of the first portion to cover said floats, securing said portions together to make the coverage permanent, and finishing the sweater structure, the improvement involving the formation of the two-ply construction by which uncut floats are kept out of contact with a wearer.

5. The method of claim 4 in which the fabric is circularly knit.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5,802 3/1874 Tripp 66174 293,363 2/ 1884 Schilling 66-196 479,276 7/1892 Holroyd 66176 1,059,707 4/1913 Brown 66171 1,540,020 6/ 1925 Kinne 66172 2,340,664 2/ 1944 Holmes et a1. 66-498 2,555,962 6/1951 Einstein 2--243 2,721,327 10/1955 Finkel 2--90 2,763,146 9/1956 Minton 66172 2,870,460 6/1959 Levi 2243 2,942,272 6/ 1960 O vigyan 2-243 XR 3,003,343 10/1961 Alfano 66-172 3,039,282 6/1962 Hayes 66172 XR FOREIGN PATENTS 1,433,357 2/1966 France.

WILLIAM CARTER REYNOLDS, Primary Examiner. 

